MARKET SUMMARY NEW ZEALAND. Data snapshot. Business and economic growth

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1 1 THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY - MARKET SUMMARY: NEW ZEALAND MARKET SUMMARY NEW ZEALAND Data snapshot Business and economic growth 90% Small businesses that expect to grow in next 12 months (New Zealand against ) 90% Small businesses that reported growing in the previous 12 months (New Zealand against ) 70% 70% 50% 50% 30% % Survey New Zealand Survey New Zealand Businesses that grew in last 12 months Businesses that expect to grow in next 12 months Businesses that expect the local economy to grow in next 12 months 58.5% 68.5% 6/8 58.1% 6/8 56.3% 7/8 47.1% 6/8 61.8% 70.8% 5/8 71.1% 5/8 65.6% 5/8 49.4% 6/8 39.9% 61.9% 8/8 61.5% 4/8 53.1% 4/8 62.3% 5/8

2 2 THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY - MARKET SUMMARY: NEW ZEALAND Business activity over the past 12 months Increased employee numbers 14.1% 34.3% 7/8 19.6% 7/8 16.4% 7/8 9.4% 7/8 Improved business management had a major positive impact on their business Increasing costs had a major negative impact on their business Required funds from an external source Sought external funds for business growth Found it easy or very easy to access external finance A bank was the business s main source of external finance 12.7% 23.4% 7/8 15.6% 7/8 15.4% 7/8 N/A N/A 27.5% 35.8% 8/8 26.6% 8/8 25.1% 8/8 N/A N/A 31.7% 61.3% 7/8* 25.2% 7/8 27.0% 8/8 30.6% 8/8 32.0% 59.4% 8/8 36.8% 7/8 25.0% 8/8 31.6% 8/8 42.3% 32.5% 2/8 48.7% 1/8 50.0% 4/8 53.7% 2/8 45.4% 41.0% 4/8 48.7% 4/8 41.7% 6/8 N/A N/A *equal seventh with Australia Planned business activity over the next 12 months Expect to increase employee numbers Expect to introduce a new product, service or process unique to their market or the world 17.6% 40.8% 8/8 24.3% 7/8 19.9% 7/8 14.5% 7/8 9.2% 23.3% 7/8 10.6% 6/8 6.8% 7/8 N/A N/A Expect revenue from overseas markets to grow strongly 8.2% 19.8% 7/8 6.0% 7/8 7.1% 7/8 N/A N/A Will seek external funds 9.8% 28.8% 8/8 8.6% 7/8 8.0% 8/8 10.6% 7/8 Expect easy to very easy access to finance 26.7% 28.4% 3/8 24.5% 4/8 39.1% 4/8 44.6% 2/8

3 3 THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY - MARKET SUMMARY: NEW ZEALAND Social media, e-commerce and technology Did NOT earn any revenue from online sales Did NOT use social media for business purposes Investment in technology by the business over the past 12 months has improved profitability Consider your business likely to be cyberattacked in next 12 months Allow payments through digital payment options, such as PayPal, Alipay, WeChat Pay Allow payments through digital currencies, such as bitcoin 52.6% 24.8% 1/8* 59.1% 2/8 58.2% 2/8 63.5% 2/8 40.8% 18.5% 2/8 40.2% 2/8 41.2% 2/8 51.0% 2/8 26.8% 53.1% 7/8 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 19.6% 45.6% 8/8 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 29.1% 42.7% 6/8# N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2.6% 11.4% 8/8 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A * equal first with Australia # equal sixth with Malaysia Factors that had positive and negative influences on business in Top four factors that had a positive influence on small business in Customer loyalty Good staff Improved customer satisfaction Cost control Top four factors that had a negative impact on small business in Increasing costs Increasing competition Tax Cash flow difficulties Other Satisfied with being a small business owner or working for a small business Do NOT have an exit plan/succession plan for the business 75.5% 76.1% 3/8 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 32.6% 36.2% 4/8 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

4 4 THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY - MARKET SUMMARY: NEW ZEALAND Demographics Business has been established for 10 years or less Respondent is aged under 40 Respondent is the business owner Business has 10 to 19 employees 51.6% 63.3% 7/8 50.8% 7/8 55.6% 7/8 52.9% 7/8 24.8% 48.0% 7/8 17.9% 7/8 25.7% 7/8 17.7% 7/8 63.4% 30.4% 8/8 58.5% 7/8 57.6% 7/8 69.7% 7/8 14.4% 45.7% 8/8 11.3% 8/8 12.2% 7/8* 10.0% 7/8 *equal seventh with Australia Summary Small business conditions in New Zealand were generally positive in, with the majority of respondents stating their business grew. However, 2018 is not looking as positive, with a drop in the percentage of businesses that expect to grow and a significant drop in the percentage of businesses that expect New Zealand s economy to grow. With 58.5 per cent of businesses reporting that they grew, was the best result for New Zealand since. New Zealand s small businesses remain more likely to have experienced growth in than businesses from Singapore (47.5%) and Australia (50.7%). However, New Zealand s small businesses are significantly less likely to have reported growing than small businesses from Indonesia (93.4 per cent). New Zealand s positive business conditions may continue in 2018, with 61.8 per cent expecting to grow, ahead of Australia (55.6 per cent) and Singapore (57.0 per cent). However, the result is down from the previous, where 71.1 per cent expected to grow. Small business confidence in New Zealand s economy in 2018 is down significantly from. In 2018, 39.9 per cent of New Zealand s small businesses expect New Zealand s economy to grow, down from 61.5 per cent in. The recent change in Government (which occurred while the was being conducted) may have contributed to this decline in economic confidence. This lower level of small business confidence in New Zealand s economy is not reflected in recent forecasts. New Zealand s Treasury is forecasting the economy to expand 3.0 per cent in 2018, as is the OECD. Despite an increase in the number of New Zealand s small businesses that reported growing, only 14.1 per cent added to their employee numbers in, compared with 19.6 per cent in. Further, the result was below the 24.3 per cent of businesses that expected to increase employee numbers in. New Zealand s small businesses are also unlikely to be a major source of jobs growth in 2018, with 17.6 per cent of businesses expecting to increase their employee numbers. A greater number of New Zealand small businesses would experience growth if they increased their focus on innovation, e-commerce, using social media and exporting. While there are examples of innovative, tech-savvy and outward-looking New Zealand small businesses, the results show that they represent only a very small number of small businesses, especially in comparison to small businesses from Mainland China, Indonesia and Vietnam.

5 5 THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY - MARKET SUMMARY: NEW ZEALAND New Zealand s small businesses lag behind their competitors from Asia in the utilisation of technology. For example: New Zealand s small businesses continue to be significantly less likely to use social media for business purposes, compared with businesses from Asia, with 40.8 per cent stating that they do not use social media for business purposes (compared with only 4.8 percent of businesses from Mainland China). New Zealand s small businesses continue to be significantly less likely to earn revenue from online sale, with 52.6 per cent stating that they do not earn any revenue from online sales (compared with only 6.8 per cent of businesses from Mainland China). While New Zealand s small businesses are one of the least likely to have cash as a payment option, this is not translating into the adoption of new digital payment technologies, such as Apple Pay, AliPay and WeChat Pay, with 29.1 per cent of businesses having new digital payment technologies available to customers compared with 65.5 per cent of businesses from Mainland China. New Zealand s small businesses are the most prudent in their adoption of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a payment option, with only 2.6 per cent identifying cryptocurrencies payment options. New Zealand s small businesses are the least likely to believe that their business will be cyberattacked in the next 12 months, with only 19.6 per cent stating that an attack is likely, well below the of 45.6 per cent. Despite this result, the majority are still taking some form of action to protect their business from cyberattack. The most popular actions are: o using a spam filter on their s accounts o running regular anti-virus, anti-spyware and malware scans o running regular backups and storing those backups offsite or in the cloud. More businesses should be considering improving security around access to their systems, including multi-factor authentication before users are allowed onto their system, a stronger password policy (including changing passwords regularly), and immediately removing access for people who no longer work for the business or need access. A possible explanation for this relatively lower utilisation of technology is the lack of return many New Zealand s small businesses are receiving on their investment in technology. Only 26.8 per cent of New Zealand s small businesses reported that their investment in technology in the past 12 months had been profitable, compared with 76.4 per cent of small businesses from Vietnam. Another explanation could be the age profile of New Zealand s small businesses, with over half of respondents (54.9 per cent) aged 50 or over and a third aged 60 or over. Those aged 50 or over are significantly less likely to be using social media or selling online. Policymakers and others seeking to promote growth in New Zealand s small business sector, and trying to encourage greater digital uptake, should consider a stronger focus on increasing the digital literacy of small business owners. Such improvements could lead to more of New Zealand s small business making profitable investments in technology. Small businesses in New Zealand remain significantly less likely to expect to invest in innovation than small businesses from the Asian markets. Again, this may be impacting the growth of some of New Zealand s small businesses, with the results showing that businesses that expect to invest in a new product, process or service that is unique to their market or the world in 2018 are significantly more likely to expect their business to grow. New Zealand s small businesses remain much less likely to expect to earn revenue from exporting than their peers from Asia. With small business confidence in New Zealand s economy falling in 2018, seeking new markets is one method to grow business in such expected conditions. The results show that business that are expecting to grow their revenue from overseas sales are significantly more likely to be growing.

6 6 THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY - MARKET SUMMARY: NEW ZEALAND New Zealand s small businesses continue to remain significantly less likely to have sourced funds from an external source than small businesses from Asia (31.7 per cent of New Zealand s small businesses, compared with the of 61.3 per cent). The low number of small businesses accessing external finance in is primarily driven by a lack of need for finance, and does not appear to be the result of difficult lending conditions. Forty-two per cent of New Zealand s businesses found access to finance easy or very easy (the second highest result of the markets ed). This lack of a need for external finance is most likely caused by the relatively low percentage of New Zealand businesses that reported growing in (in comparison to businesses from Asia) and the relatively limited focus on activities that may require external finance, such as innovation, exporting or asset purchases. With over three quarters (75.5 per cent) of New Zealand s respondents indicating that they are satisfied or very satisfied owning or working for a small business, and only 58.5 per cent of respondents stating that their business grew in, small business owners in New Zealand are obviously motivated by more than profit. With a significant percentage of New Zealand s small business owners close to, or at, retirement age, the lack of focus on new technologies, innovation and new markets may have adverse impacts on the value of their business. This, in turn, may impact their standard of living in retirement, particularly where the owner is relying on the proceeds of the sale of their business to provide for them in retirement.